Washington DC
It was an interesting trip to the capital, except that it was a bore to be on the road for 4 hours (at least the toilet in the bus didn't stink!) We were greeted with nice sunshine on Saturday & it was crowded everywhere, full of tourists like myself checking out the great icons & monuments of the USA. Like my brother said, it's like some Hollywood movie (the political types, like Manchurian Candidate, Farenheit 9/11, etc) & we were imagining the opening scenes to some movies where the camera zooms across these structures in the opening scenes. Heh hehe!!
Capitol Hill
The Abraham Lincoln Memorial was ermm....let's put it this way. Abe was undergoing a face-lift so he wasn't able to pose for a picture. Hur!! And I walked a mile across from the Capitol Hill to find that out! Thanks!!!
That's the National Monument behind me
OK, here's a better picture of the National Monument (to honour all the troops who died in conflicts the US had a hand in..which is nearly everything?! :p)
We checked out the Arlington Cemetery on Sunday morning. It's the resting place of veterans, troops whose remains have been uncovered ("The Unknown Soldier"), national icons like John F Kennedy, those who died in the Challenger shuttle explosion back in 1986 & even those who died in the Pentagon (which is just across the road) when terrorists crashed the jet into the building on 911. It's a place of peace & quiet & rightly so. The marblestones are all neatly arranged in rows & no matter how you look at it, they are always nice & straight so as to resemble the formation of soldiers in their marching contingents. I didn't take too many photos of the place because I want to respect the resting place of those who are laid there.
A memorial stone to remember those who gave their lives to the war in the Pacific in WW2
In true Chan Family style (or rather, my Mum's), we all headed to the mall at Pentagon City & spent the rest of the afternoon there. It wasn't exactly the most fruitful, which is good since I didn't spend a lot of money there. Got myself a purple mesh Nike backpack & a book from Borders. The backpack was a steal from Marshalls because it only cost US$14.99 & the usual price seen elsewhere was US$30!! Hee hee hee!! And again, true to Chan Family style, we had dinner at Chinatown.
On Monday, my brother & me decided to check out the Museum of Natural History but before that, we had to 'pay our respects' at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue - The White House.
Something major was taking place in the White House that day because the areas surrounding it were barricaded & there were members of the press, lots of cameras in the area. A-ha! President George W. Bush was due to give a press conference/speech on the plans for Iraq after their general elections. And we saw the most amazing thing!
That's the closest we got to the most powerful man on earth - he was in his Marine 2 landing into the White House for the press conference.
My brother & me spent the longest time in the Museum of Natural History - a place where it contains things we both love - dinosaur stuff, mammals stuff, geological stuff like earthquakes, volcanoes, space. I love the stones & gems section...all the crystals, rare stones, precious stones & *drum roll* The Hope Diamond! It's the gem of gems..45 carats, surrounded by other diamonds & even the chain is diamond...AARRRGGHH!!! I want!! Even saw the ear rings worn by Marie-Antionette & the diamond necklace plus diamond crown worn by Napoleon's wife (sorry - no photos!) AARRGGHH!!! I WANT THEM ALL!!
We wanted to check out the Spy Museum but it costs US$14 to get in. If you must know, all the museums in DC under the Smithsonian Institution are free entry places..hehe! That's why, to pay 14 bucks to check out spy stuff wasn't worth it. We had Popeye's chicken for lunch & bitched a lot... :D
And the wheels of the bus went round & round until we got back to New York City in 1 piece - thank God!
Luv,
~MiL~
New York City
posted by Milly Me @ 7:04 AM
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